ATI Radeon HD 4850 and 4870: RV770 Has Arrived

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Introduction and Related Information

Last week, due to some unexpected circumstances, we were able to post a sneak peek of the RV770 GPU and ATI Radeon HD 4850 graphics card. As our limited testing showed, the Radeon HD 4850 was quite promising for a $199 graphics card. But we weren't able to tell the complete story. While the initial benchmarks definitely looked good, there was a lot more to talk about in regard to the Radeon HD 4850 and the RV770 GPU at the heart of the card.

Today we can finally spill the rest of the beans. You see, AMD didn't plan to officially announce just one new Radeon HD 4800 series card this week, but two, with a dash of information about a third thrown in for good measure. Today marks the official arrival of not only the Radeon HD 4850, but the higher-end Radeon HD 4870 as well. As we've already explained, one card - the Radeon HD 4850 - is targeted at the sub-$200 price point. The other, however, is a $299 screamer that makes use of some cutting edge technology, like GDDR5 memory.

We'll get down to the nitty gritty just a little later. For now, check out the list of features and specifications below and strap in for an exciting ride. What we have in store, may surprise some of you...

As the above list of specifications and features show, the new Radeon HD 4800 series has much in common with the Radeon HD 3800 series. Both offer DX10.1 and Shader Model 4.1 support, both series of GPUs are manufactured on TSMC's 55nm process node, and both support ATI's CrossFireX multi-GPU technology.

Because we've covered many of the shared features of the Radeon HD 4800 and 3800 series cards before, we won't be going in depth again here. However, we would recommend taking a look at a few recent articles to brush up on the tech if you're so inclined.